EDITORIAL: Resolve dispute over revenue allocation

Editorials

EDITORIAL: Resolve dispute over revenue allocation

Sunday, September 1, 2019 21:30

By EDITORIAL

When the 2010 Constitution was promulgated Kenyans were of the view that the country’s resources would thereafter be equitably shared by the whole population.

Hence after the devolved governance system kicked in following the 2013 General Election, many thought that things would sail smoothly.

However, what erupted then and has been ongoing since are the fights over revenue allocation with the county governments crying foul.

It was therefore not surprising when the Council of Governors threatened last week that they would shut down operations if the Division of Revenue impasse was not resolved.

It is really disheartening to learn that most counties have been unable to pay their workers salaries for the last two months.

This is as a result of the standoff between the National Assembly and the Senate.

Parliament has been unable to pass the Division of Revenue Bill due to disagreement between the National Assembly and the Senate.

We aver that this ongoing turf wars between the two Houses are hampering development at the grassroots.

The fallout came as a result of the National Assembly supporting the Treasury’s move to allocate Sh310 billion to the county governments while the Senate wants them allocated Sh335 billion as per the advice from the Commission for Revenue Allocation.

The country cannot afford to allow the impasse to continue for long as it will derail overall development efforts.

It goes without saying that the deadlock has hurt the general economy with strikes over unpaid salaries being a frequent occurrence at the devolved units.

We urge all the major stakeholders in the matter to sit down and thrash out their differences by coming up with a solution.

We opine that dialogue is the key to resolving the matter and urge all parties to work towards a long-term solution.

We are no in the sixth year since the devolution system of governance was rolled out hence we should have resolved all the teething problems that normally accompany such a transition.

What our leaders should not forget is that the welfare of every Kenyan remains sacrosanct.